Hey guys, I was just wondering if anybody has heard of "madison" bikes before and could give me any information. Googling it either tells me about madison races or the american place madison.

My girlfriend bought me a bike recently and only knew that it was a "madison" as that is what she was told. I'm assuming it was not a Schwinn Madison as the frame did not appear to be chromed under, or did not have track dropouts from the back. I did find a few ebay results for old madison bikes but that was it, they were both in australia.

Does anybody have any info on these bikes? where it may have come from?

Hi Conor,I don't know if you still have it, but I have a Madison too! And it happened the same to me, IMPOSSIBLE to find something in Internet.

A friend of a friend told me that they were a Japanese Brand that imported a few of its bikes to Australia, there were 2 qualities of Madison Bikes, some of them were 'average' and some of them were 'Medium-High class'.

Yesterday I got mine from a Bike shop in Melbourne and the guy told me that It looks like mine was made handmade and there was only one or these bikes were produced in a small amount. (what I believe it as we cannot find anything in google). He also told me that the frame could last another 30 or 40 years If I want.

I bought this frameset from Fooch on here earlier in the year. Looks like a pretty standard mass produced Japanese frame with stamped dropouts etc. There's a sticker saying "distributed by Cycles Australia, Geebung Queensland" on it. Maybe they ordered a batch from a maker in Japan and branded them Madison...

I'm pretty sure my dad had a Madison 'Steed'*, which I ended up riding when I realised petrol was expensive. It was nothing special and eventually cracked at the downtube near the clamp-on gear levers. Interestingly it had vertical dropouts which was a bit odd for a low-end 80's bike...I thought.

I did see one parked in Melbourne CBD a while back, but that's the only other one I've ever seen. A popular search engine doesn't yield any helpful results.

Madison was one of the brands sold by the Cycles Australia group, the others being Local, Ashby, Swift, Sprite and Peugeot (yes the same Peugeot as the cars). Up until August 1977 the Stafford, Brisbane based company called Guthries sold bikes under their own name as well as the Local, Ashby and Swift brands. Guthries were sold and became Cycles Australia, and the Guthrie line of bikes was dropped in place of Madison. So it could suggest that the Madison brand may not have any history before that time but I can't be certain. Initially at least, all the bikes except the Peugeots were made in Brisbane, but as the 80s wore on I believe production gradually moved to Japan/Taiwan.

I had a Madison SR10 which was just a typical cheap 70s ten speed, stem shifters, steel rims, cottered cranks, but unfortunately it had a badly bent frame and went to the bike rack in the sky. Certainly the only Madisons I've seen were the same, just cheap entry level bikes, but then I thought the same thing of De Carlo until I saw a couple of really good quality ones so who knows. I'll say all Madisons were just cheap junkers, with any luck that will bring a nice one out of the woodwork to prove me wrong .

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments- Elizabeth West.

@mikeyg63 : Looks like a good basis for resto. Whilst it's definitely nothing top of the wozza, everything does look quite original and in reasonable & serviceable nick. At the very least you might replace brake pads and cable inners - but they're readily available. Don't let lazy LBS staff tell you otherwise.

Research some of the tear down & clean up info that's fairly prolific in these here parts. I'd personally only bother fixifying it if was a lot rattier & patchy than what it is.

I got a Madison frame yesterday. Its a really long frame. 59cm top tube. Forged dropouts and a tange fork. Not sure what the tubing is but its seemless. Theres a sticker on it that says the frame is cromoly and made in Australia. Frame weight was 2600grams, fork 800grams. Another sticker says it came with shimano 600 gear. Anyway I put it together today with cheap china parts donated from an ALDI bike as a single speed. It rides well. Total weight of the bike now is 10.5kg, good enough to ride around town. The fork is very good.

CogsnSpokes wrote:I am almost done with a old Madison project bike that I got a little while ago. Will post up images once it's finished. Its a reasonable bike and rides fairly well.

I'll be waiting to see it. In the meantime heres mine and a bit of a story about it, its no low end bike (well not originally) viewtopic.php?f=28&t=88339

Looks Grand. Very similar to the one I have been working on. Hmmm there are a few differences but also cromoly and with similar stickers.

Will get up some photos soon to compare

Do you reckon yours has that unusual geometry mine has? and have you been for a ride on it yet?. The fork on mine so compliant, it's really great to ride, smooooth as. As far as I can see your bike and mine are the only two in the thread with a cromoly frame and probably the only two that had the frames built in Australia. Maybe we will never know where or by who but mine's a pretty great frame, I guess yours is too. I guess by the 600EX decal on mine that it's a late 70s or very early 80s bike. Did yours still have any components on it which you could date the bike from?. I found a girlfriend for my Standish fixie at the local tip shop.I think I'll go get it tomorrow if it's still there. It's a 1983 womens Standish "3 Star" it has one of those funky Shimano freewheeling cranks on it.. Never seen one before but I imagine it makes for a strange but easy single speed by putting a track cog on the back..

Kermit TF wrote:The madison taipan bmx's from 79-81 where what I used to drool over..

Yep I was so lucky to own one of them as a youngish 12-13 years old and just loved it to bits. It was as light as anything and myself and a few other friends used to ride them up the walls of skate board bowls god now I'm fifty something with sore hips. It was purchased through a dealer in Oakleigh in Melbourne from a then very new back yard BMX bicycle dealer that went by the name of PRM BMX. Run by a young chap named Patrick Dillon. Don't know what ever became of the business.

I was given a different bike to work on by a freind with the Brooks saddle in the images. However that frames was buckled in the rear forks and useless.

This bike was acquired with no wheels or drivetrain. Also the wheels where salvaged 700c. The frame was origionaly meant for 27" wheels so the brake drop was a bit sqwirly. This meant the Dia-Compe brakes it came with had to be retired for another project.

Hey how did I miss this after such anticipation. The frame is the same as mine other than size. Looks to be the same geometry angles. Can't run drop bars on mine because the frames so big but it's still the bike Im grabbing first every day to commute on.

WestcoastPete wrote:I bought this frameset from Fooch on here earlier in the year. Looks like a pretty standard mass produced Japanese frame with stamped dropouts etc. There's a sticker saying "distributed by Cycles Australia, Geebung Queensland" on it. Maybe they ordered a batch from a maker in Japan and branded them Madison...

My Madison looks the same as WestcoastPete's but in silver and mostly original.She wears a sticker on the seat bar, above the BB reading:

10 YEAR AUSTRALIAN MADE WARRANTY

This frame is manufactured in Australiaand as a warranty against faulty work-manship (under normal use) whilst itremains the property of the original purchaser

]Hi all, new here. I have a Madison bike, called an Aero. Aero style Steel tubes, frameset made in Melbourne. The rest appears to be imported. Light weight matching groupset . Trying to figure out how to post photos.

Mine had a full Adamas groupset including wheels, although I swapped my front out to use my dynohub wheel in this picture.

None of it would pass as lightweight, but it worked. I did find myself seeking better stopping power, and replaced the brake pads for Koolstop Salmons. But since then I've pulled it all off and turned it into a fixie.

Yes, that's it.....different colour though. Mine is bog standard I think. the Adams's gruppo was available only for a short time in the early 80s I believe so mine has survived pretty well for its age.

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